Sustainability

Sustainability is the characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. In the environmental, economic and social fields, it is the process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the investment plan, the orientation of technological development and institutional changes are all in harmony. They enhance current and future potential in order to meet human needs and aspirations. The guiding principle of sustainability is sustainable development, which concerns, in an interconnected way, the environmental, economic and social spheres. The cultural, technological and political sectors are considered as sub-sectors of sustainable development. Sustainable development means development aimed at meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The first historical reference to the concept of "intergenerational" sustainability is contained in the pastoral constitution "Gaudium et spes", published at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council (1965). The term "sustainable development" was first introduced by the Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987).